The present invention relates generally to semiconductor device manufacturing and, more specifically, to an apparatus and method for determining a thermal interface material (TIM) thickness change.
A thermal interface material (TIM) is typically a compliant material with high thermal conductivity that is applied between a heat-generating chip (processor) and a heat spreader (lid) in an electronic package. During operation of the chip, the generated heat is transferred from the chip, through the TIM and into the heat spreader so that a temperature of the chip can be maintained at or below a predetermined level. With this construction, it is seen that a relatively thin TIM bond line provides for good thermal performance but that some minimally thick TIM bond line should be maintained to prevent overloading of the chip.
During assembly processes of electronic packages, thermal degradation usually occurs as a result of TIM bond line thickness changes. However, in situ monitoring of the TIM bond line changes during assembly actual applications is not currently possible.